Three tales of three people who have a lasting effect on one another. A young writer whose career is skyrocketing finds himself in a stormy marriage. He divorces his wife after the death of their daughter, shuts himself from the outside world and drinks himself to death over a twenty-year period.

Vonarstræti is a great film.

It tells the stories of ordinary people in Iceland during the – I think – buildup of the country’s financial crisis in 2008.

Many things separate Vonarstræti from similar films; but above all is perhaps Baldvin Zophoníasson’s ability to avoid revealing too much; he never underestimates his audience.

And the stories are simple. The storytelling is simple. The dialogue is real, the performances heartfelt. Hera Hilmar is particularly great, so is the dynamic between her character Eik and Móri, the plagued, yet peaking writer.

Adding to this is the fact that nothing we see on screen is unnecessary to the development of the story. The story is also constantly developing in its own way.

The cinematography is simple and “just there”. Nothing fancy here – just like the stories. This simplicity is not just great for realism, it is almost a prerequisite.

On the other hand, it can be argued that the film has its flaws. They include over dramatization of certain scenes, and a potentially bad plot choice (potentially because it’s subjective – you be the judge). But even this never goes overboard.

Vonarstræti is overall a great piece of Icelandic social realism. One star deducted for minor flaws, considering that the 10/10 should be reserved for very special cases.